JJ
by Freckles922
Summary: A story close to my heart that I've been working on since the show was still on..A different point of view that delves a little deeper into one of our favorite negotiator's life. It's got humor drama family stuff and of course some MnEm fluff thrown in :
1. Chapter 1

The front door banged open, heavy back-pack was deposited. "Dad?" She knew he wouldn't be there. She flopped upside down onto her bed with her pink hightops resting on her pillow and her long red ponytail hanging off the end. She had grabbed her iPod off the dresser and now she clipped it onto her jeans and stuck the earphones in. Great. She had just survived her first week at a new school and there was no one to tell about it. She took out her ponytail and shook her head a little. She tried to ignore the extreme pang of loneliness she felt. She rolled off her bed, stuck her favorite baseball cap on her head, just for comfort and headed into the kitchen. Something small, white and fluffy jumped on her as she did, so she got out a dog treat. She pushed her stray strands of wispy side bangs out of her face as she knelt down by her pet. Then she got up and opened the fridge. Beer, half-and-half and a lone can of sprite was all there was to drink.

"Hm, guess I'm having soda," she said to the little Maltese-poodle. It wasn't until she closed the door that she noticed the note carelessly taped to it. She ripped it down and perched herself on the counter to read it.

"_Jessie," _He was the only one who still called her that. "_Must work douuble shift. You'll be spending a night with Grandpa John. Please pack, he'll pick you up at 7." _ And he had signed it. Not, "_Dad" _but his actual signature. She ripped her earphones out in frustration. She crumpled the note and shot it like a basketball into the sink. After she hopped down, she stuck a note of her own on the fridge. "_Dad. Buy some food. JJ" _ Then she reluctantly trudged into her room to pack.

She layed down on her stomach to pull out her carry-on suitcase which she felt like she had just unpacked. She packed enough for the whole three day weekend, knowing she could very well end up staying that long. She sat on her bed looking out the window, thinking. Until last week, the only times she had seen her grandpa, or her dad for that matter, were on a few random holidays throughout the past five years. Her dad had always sent her a birthday card and never complained about paying child support but other than that contact had been minimal. He had called her once in a while but in five years had only flown to New York to see her once. She had fond memories of her dad but it was like after the divorce he had become a different person. This past week, the two of them had barely spoken unless they were arguing. When he got home from work, he mostly just drank. And avoided her. JJ reached under her bed again and pulled out a picture of her and her mom. Tears came to her eyes. This still seemed so unreal to her. How could her father be so cold at a time like this? And he knew how she felt which made it so much more confusing. After two years of battling cancer, it hadn't exactly been a surprise, but that didn't make losing a parent any easier. She reached under her bed again and pulled out a small pile of pictures. She sat on the floor, hugging her knees while she looked at them. Her head jerked up as she heard a car skid into the driveway and a door slam. She stuffed the pictures into the outside pocket of her suitcase before getting up to investigate.

She peeked out the window next to the front door. The only thing she could see was a cab pulling away. She jumped at the sound of the knock at the door. She opened the door just a crack and it was pushed open the rest of the way. Her heart jumped into her throat and her stomach tied itslef into a knot.

"Oh my God," she thought in a panic, "did he follow me from New York?"

"Jessica!" He scooped her into a big hug. She wanted to throw up.

"Hi Grandpa"

"You allowed to wear that hat on this coast?" He laughed as he hit the brim. JJ just looked at him. She was done. For five years she has acted like everything was normal, made it seem like she was fine. Her mom was dead. Nothing mattered anymore and she never wanted to see him again.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you. We have to talk."

"No, we don't actually. And my Grandpa John is gonna be here any minute," she lied, "so…"

"I thought you might wanna know about your mom's will."

"I hope you didn't fly to California just for that. I was there, remember? I know what she left me."

"What about the part about you?"

"What?"

"The part that says if your father is unwilling or unable to take care of you, sole custody of you is granted to me."

JJ looked back into her own eyes with utter horror. "What?"

"I also happen to know that your father is one slip-up away from getting his badge taken away, so I just thought you should know…"

"Shut up!" she screamed at him, hot tears spilling out of her bright green eyes. She stood there in shock, her sneakers glued to the floor. Since when had pain and tears become the most prevalent things in her life? So she did the only thing she knew how to do. She fought. "I hate you!" she yelled, hitting him hard in the stomach. She felt his hand come hard across her face, his ring making a cut under her eye. And she was running. She didn't even think about it but the next thing she knew, she was sprinting down the driveway. He ran out after her, yelling something she couldn't understand. She leaped over a skateboard on the sidewalk and just kept running, her sneakers slapping the pavement, oblivious to the fact that it had started raining. She didn't stop running until she was on a bus. She didn't know where it was going but she needed to rest and get out of the pouring rain.

As she sat there on the bus she tried to slow her breathing and refocus her brain. She knew she should be panicking but she just felt sort of empty. As she watched raindrops race each other down the window, her mind slowly began to form a plan. After a while she got off. She knew now where to go, she just had no idea how to get there. So the sixteen-year-old girl from Long Island found herself wandering down the streets of downtown L.A., totally lost.


	2. Chapter 2

She pulled her cap down farther over her eyes in hopes of blocking some of the rain. At last, she saw a small coffee shop and ducked into it. She didn't even like coffee but at least it was dry in there and it smelled so good. She sat down at a small table by the window and dug into her jeans pocket. She had exactly seven dollars. She was thinking about buying a hot chocolate or something but it dawned on her that she might need that money for something more important later, like transportation. Not that she could get very far on it. So she just sat there in the warm little shop, trying to contemplate the next move.

She looked around at the other people, which was one of her favorite things to do. The shop was pretty empty, only four other customers and one guy behind the counter. She looked at a business man, hard at work on a laptop and wondered why he was out of the office at this hour. She glanced at the two college girls with drinks bigger than their heads. She named them Kaylie and Kylie in her mind and was bored of them already. She turned her attention to the off-duty cop eating a donut. "Way to feed into the stereotype, man," she thought. The employee was wiping down the same counter over and over and probably counting down to the end of his shift. What a boring day for people watching. Just a bunch a morons waiting out the rain. JJ was hungry but smart enough to save her money. She tried not to think about food. She put her feet up on a chair and looked at the rain. She had always liked the rain. The bells on the front door clanged. JJ looked up, thinking whoever was coming in might be slightly more interesting. Nope. It was an average-looking middle-aged man probably just in need of a caffeine boost. Or not.

She practically jumped out of her chair as one of the college girls screamed, "Oh my God!" and the other one just sceamed. The man's back was to her but she could see the terror on the cashier's face plainly enough to know what was going on. She knew she should get up and run but she seemed stuck to the seat. Then everything was happening so fast. The young employee was emptying the register as the man pointed a gun in his face. Evidently he hadn't noticed there was a cop in here. Wait, where was the cop? Had he left? The girls were clinging to each other, the busiman absently trying to hide his laptop.

JJ watched the incident unfold before her as if in slow motion. The cop appeared as if out of nowhere. Approaching stealthily from behind the man, he reached him and held his gun to the back of his head.

"LAPD, stop right there." The man froze only momentarily, then in one spasm-like motion he had turned around and JJ heard a gunshot ring through the air.

After what seemed like several seconds of stillness, it was the officer who went down. Then the small coffee shop shook with panic. Everyone was screaming, the officer groaning in pain. Prominent above all other noise and pandemonium was the man barking orders. He was in a complete panic, ordering the men to close and lock the door and shut the blinds, obstructing all visual access. He screamed at everyone to get down on the floor. He gripped his gun ever tighter with the cop's gun stuck into his pants, as he paced the floor. JJ listened carefully as he muttered to himself.

"It wasn't supposed to go down like this. No one was suppoed to get hurt. What now? What the hell are you gonna do now?" He smacked himself hard on the head. After ten minutes of watching him pace, whispering "the cops are gonna be here any second, think of a plan!" she began to think he was unstable. She waited approximately three more minutes, listening to the other hostages breathe and, still hearing no police cars, decided to be the first to speak.

"Excuse me, sir," she began evenly, not flinching as he wheeled on her, "you might wanna do something for him." She nodded at the bleeding officer. It turned out, the bullet only caught him in the arm but it was a lot of blood. JJ felt a surge of relief as she heard sirens in the distance.

"What do you know?" he yelled raising the gun again. She remained calm.

"Look man, the cops are practically here. You want this to end favorably, you're gonna have to stay on their good side, alright? Now, you already shot one of their own, you can't take that back. The only thing you have working for you is that he's not dead and I'm sure you would like to keep it that way." He looked around nervously, tightening his grip on his gun as he seemed to consider this.

"I can't let him go," he said, resuming the relentless pacing. He was sweating profusely now and JJ suddenly realized how hot it was in there. "I can't…"

"You should at least stop the bleeding," she said a little louder and more forcefully.

"Fine!" he yelled almost before she was finished, "Do something!"

"Me?"

"Yes, Raggedy Ann, you! Nobody else moves," he threatened, waving his gun over their heads.

"Fine." JJ got up. "Give me your tie," she said to the business man. He fumbled with the knot before finally getting it off and handing it over. "Thank you."

"You!" The gun was now pointed at the young employee. "Get up. You're gonna make me an iced coffee."

"O-Ok," he stumbled to his feet, putting his hand up as a "don't shoot" signal. As they went behind the counter, JJ approached the wounded officer. She knelt down next to him.

"What's your name?" she whispered as she began to wrap the tie around his arm to stem the blood flow. She didn't really know what she was doing but it was better than nothing.

"I'm Ed," he managed to say through teeth gritted in pain.

"Ed? I'm JJ. Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of here. Wounded cop'll be the first bargaining chip. Plus, the fact that he's letting me help you means he really doesn't want anyone to get hurt." She was now helping him rip off the short sleeve of his uniform to use as a bandage. He looked at his young nurse.

"You know JJ, you'd make a very fine cop one day." She beamed at him as she tied the piece of cloth around his wound. He winced a little.

"You are a fine cop, Ed." He smiled back at her but their moment was short-lived. JJ's stomach did a back flip as, at last, the phone started ringing. She was suddenly aware that the man was standing right near her again.

The phone rang four times before he resumed his pacing. He started panicking all over again. "Is that the cops?" he yelled to no one in particular.

It was JJ who answered. "Probably."

Finally, unable to stand the ringing any longer, he picked it up. "Hello," he said violently. JJ wished she could hear the other end of the converstation. "No, you don't need to know my name. You just need to know that I have…six hostages, one wounded and if you guys come in here, they're all gonna die." He slammed the phone down. This didn't sound very promising but JJ knew that since his only demand so far was that they not come in, they would be ok for now.

"The FBI," he said quietly, then yelled, "They brought in the frickin' FBI!" He waved his hand over them in a frantic gesture, spilling iced coffee on JJ shirt. Almost immediately, the phone started ringing again. Everyone in the room waited tensely, hot and terrified as the phone rang and rang. Each time it rang, everyone's heart skipped a collective beat.

"You know, if you don't answer it, they're just gonna come in here."

This time, he pressed his gun directly into her temple. "Answer it then."

JJ swallowed. "But they're gonna wanna talk to you."

"Unless you want me to blow the freckles off your pretty little face, you're gonna pick up that phone and talk to them. Tell them I'm not sayin' anything. I need more time to think. Don't you tell them anything either." He lowered the gun and walked a few paces away, maintaining his visual on JJ. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking as she wiped Ed's blood from them onto her shirt and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" She glanced over and the gun was raised again, pointing at her from across the room. She desperately tried to think as the agent on the line asked if everybody was ok. "Yes," was all she could say. He asked about the wounded hostage but as the man with the gun was slowly approaching, she knew she couldn't answer. "Don't come in here and don't call back. He needs time to think," she spat out, responding to the glare she was getting.

"Hang up!" he yelled. JJ slammed the reciever down onto the counter, next to its little cradle and then carefully flipped it over. She was deliberately leaving it off the hook so the FBI could hear what was going on inside.

The HT sank onto the floor and put his head in his hands. To the surprise of the other hostages, who had been watching their young companion anxiously, JJ went right over and sat down next to him.

"What's your name?" He lifted his head up, staring at her with an odd look in his eyes, but he didn't answer. "I'm JJ." She paused but only briefly. "That's Ed," she informed him, pointing. The HT's eyes darted briefly to the wounded cop. Next, JJ looked to the business man.

"I'm Marc," he offered. Eyes were turned to the young employee.

"Noah," he responded.

"Amy."

"Meghan." Once everyone had introduced themselves, JJ's eyes fell back onto the man with the gun.

"I'm Bill," he said finally, giving in to her.

"Hi Bill, she said quietly, giving him a small smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Outside the building and across the street, FBI agents from the CNU were listening intently.

"What's she doing?"

"She's humanizing them."

"What is she, a cop?"

"What's the matter, Temp?" Frank asked, approaching.

"Seems someone's doin' his job for him in there," Binder answered with a grin.

"What do you mean? She actually knows what she's doing?"

"I don't know," Cheryl interupted, holding up a hand to silence her negotiators, "but she's doing it well. Why don't we just hang tight? See how this plays out?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't," Bill practically sobbed. JJ had made progress but he still felt trapped, desperate and incapable of loosening his grip on the gun. "I wanna call them back. Make a deal." He had resumed pacing. JJ got up quickly, remembering she had left the phone off the hook. He walked toward the phone. She followed him. She needed to stop him without freaking him out. She was starving and sweaty and terrified but she gathered all the strength she had and yelled at him.

"What are you gonna do Bill? Make some ludicrous demand and tell them you'll kill all of us if they don't comply?"

He stared at her, eyes wild, confused. "I need a helicopter. It's gonna take me out of the country. Until it comes, nobody leaves."

"Ok. Well, let's just say they do that for you. Then what? What waits for you in this new country? How are you going to start a new life? Did it ever occur to you that once you're on your little helicopter, it might not take you where you wanna go?"

About half and hour crawled by after this without anybody speaking. Bill paced, stopped, sat down, got up, paced again, thinking.

"Come on, Bill." JJ's voice was a little hoarse. It had been so quiet, she could practically hear her heart beating. "It's the end of the line one way or another. Honestly, best case scenario right now is you walk out there and serve some jail time. What option do you have?"

"I could kill myself!" he screamed at her.

"No, you don't deserve to die. Just go out there, do your time and then live your life, Bill, come on."

Another half hour elapsed, in the last ten minutes of which Bill seemed to be winning an immense inner struggle. An additional ten minutes went by with him standing still, by the counter, facing the front of the store. All at once he seemed to just give in. He gave in to heat exhaustion, to his emotions, to JJ. He fell to his knees, letting the gun fall and slide across the floor where Marc quickly grabbed it up. Noah got on top of him and took Ed's gun from him too. Within seconds, JJ had jumped over the counter and said breathlessly into the phone, "He's down. Get in here." And they did, before she could blink.

Then chaos ensued and JJ allowed herself to get lost in the shuffle. Ed was put on a stretcher by paramedics and carried out. The other hostages were escorted out too, and practically tackled by the waiting family members who had gathered. JJ sat on the counter still and removed her blood and coffee stained polo, leaving herself in just a tank top. She shivered as cold air blew in and chilled her sweaty body. She held her baseball cap in her hands, looking at it. Without really knowing what was going on, she allowed herself to be helped down and escorted outside into the rain. She stood there dazed. Someone wrapped a blanket around her and then she was sitting on the edge of the back of an ambulence.

"What's your name sweetheart?" She forced her eyes to focus on the person bending down next to her. It was the big man who had helped her off the counter.

"JJ" she said weakly. He looked dumbfounded.

"You're JJ?" She nodded, unsure what the big deal was. "Guys!" Two men approached.

"What do you want Frank?" one demanded.

"JJ," he explained, pointing. Temple and Binder looked amazed too.

"So you're our future negotiator!" Binder said. If she had more energy, she would have beamed at him. Then suddenly, she remembered. The day, her grandpa, where she was going. "Look, guys, I need your help. See, I was actually on my way to…"

"Excuse me, sorry to interupt," Cheryl apologized as she appeared with Lia close behind her. "I need to talk to you two for a moment." Then she looked at JJ with genuine, deep admiration in her eyes. "Nice work." To JJ, coming from an FBI boss, this was the biggest complement she could receive. "Lia, debrief." And Cheryl walked away with her negotiators. Lia glanced at Frank before turning to JJ.

"Hi, I'm Lia."

"Hi. Look, I know this is weird but I was wondering if you know…" Lia's phone rang.

"Sorry." And she disappeared momentarily.

"Hey," Frank said to JJ in Lia's absense, "between me and you, you did those guy's job way better than they could have tonight." JJ smiled.

"Well, I've wanted to be a negotiator for a long time." Before Frank could respond to that, Lia reappeared, clipboard at the ready.

"Anyway," she smiled, "What's your name?"

"JJ."

"I like that, it's so cute. Listen, can you answer a few questions about what went down in there for us?" JJ nodded. "Well, first JJ, what's your full name?"

"Jessica Johanna Flannery."


End file.
